Feeling a little blue?

 Here is some good tactics to train your emotions:

• Tired - Nap
• Sad - listen to music
• Stressed - go for a nice walk
• Angry - exercise
• Burnt out - read a good book
• Feeling lost - pray
• Anxious - meditate
• Overthinking - write
• Uninspired - go outside

Russ Cmolik's BBQ

A few weeks ago I got an invite from Russ and Sherry for a BBQ at their home.  Russ was a partner at Ritchie Bros. and lives in Ocean Park.  He invited 700 people to his BBQ!  What a fabulous evening!

We arrived at his driveway with a piper playing!  What a way to start the evening.

Two singers, greeting us as we came in

Some of the home, it was huge and I couldn't get it all in!

The rear of his house backs onto the most gorgeous view.  This property is so large, there were tables way off to the left.  He invited 700 people and it wasn't crowded!  Dinner was hamburgers, hot dogs, salads and of course open bar!

This is the bar and the line was long!

Mayor Brenda Locke, Mark Madryga  from Global TV and I believe MP Kerry Lynn Finlay was there but I didn't speak to her.  So many old work colleagues and we are all going on the cruise in two weeks!  It was such a lovely evening.  I will post some pictures because they will show the property and some of the people that were invited!

I couldn't stop looking at the gorgeous view.  Point Roberts is in the background

Russ has always had eagle cams on his property.  I've been watching them for years.  He told us he names the babies that are hatched in his trees.  He started with the aviation alphabet.  He started at Alpha and is now got V & W, he's had that many!  His cams are online:

White Rock Eagle Cams

David Hancock was at the BBQ and made a wonderful speech.  He talked about how Russ has made the eagles visible for people around the world!  What a thrill to meet him!

David Hancock

Then the band "Moon Coin" started the evening dancing:  

Moon Coin

A beautiful sunset!

Video of the band

Catch up

We are home but I forgot to post a blog yesterday!   Our neighbour, Don, who was on our cruise told me: "I met an old friend from Burnaby who was on our Cunard cruise today.  I didn't meet him onboard or even know he was taking this cruise.  He asked if I saw Rod Stewart onboard.  He spotted him twice!  Apparently, he was in a suite on our cruise."  We didn't see Rod Stewart.  On Cunard the suites have their own area no accessible to non-suites.  They can also eat in their staterooms.  That's the first cruise I've been on with a star!  

Cheryl, Dave, and Lexie adore Taylor Swift.  They had no problem at the US border going south as they have Nexus.  Cheryl reserved a parking spot remarkably close to Lumen Stadium.  I got this picture before the concert with the caption: "What a vibe.  The Swifties are in full force tonight!"

They really enjoyed the concert.  Hotel prices in Seattle were exorbitant so they decided to go home after the concert.  It took them one hour to get out of the parking lot and it was 3 AM when they got home!  

This was reported:

From ‘Shake It Off’ to just ‘shake’: Taylor Swift fans who attended the singer's performances on July 22 and 23 in Seattle danced with such excitement that they actually caused seismic activity. Seismologist Jackie Caplan-Auerbach told CNN the activity was equivalent to a 2.3 magnitude earthquake.

This event, dubbed the 'Swift Quake,' has been compared to the 2011 'Beast Quake,' when Seattle Seahawks fans erupted in celebration after an impressive touchdown by Marshawn 'Beast Mode' Lynch.

When comparing the 2 events, Swifties have NFL fans beat. 'The shaking was twice as strong as ‘Beast Quake’. It absolutely doubled it,' Caplan-Auerbach said.

Last Day - Victoria

We arrived at Ogden Point at 1 PM and departed the ship to the B C Transit bus stop.  Cunard did have a free bus to downtown but we wanted to see Craigdarroch Castle.  We took #2 bus and it took us very close to where we wanted to go.  The all day pass is $5.00!

Craigdarroch Castle was constructed in the late 19th century as a family residence for the wealthy coal baron Robert Dunsmuir and his wife Joan.  Robert died in April 1889, 17 months before construction on the castle was completed.  His sons Alexander and James took over the role of finishing the home after his death.

We heard how it was a military hospital between 1919 - 1921, Victoria College 1921 - 1946, Victoria School Board Office 1946 - 1968, Victoria Conservatory of Music 1969 - 1979 and then turned into a museum that sees 150,000 visitors a year.  It was well worth the visit.

The ship sailed for Vancouver at 8:30 and we had a lovely sunset.

My thoughts on Cunard

Yesterday was a day at sea.  We had lots of activities, but I thought I would recap this cruise.  I was on the Queen Elizabeth in 2019.  We enjoyed it so much, we booked for 2020.   Because of COVID, we didn't sail until this year.  We are noticing some changes since 2019.  The good thing is we are getting our room serviced twice a day!  We have a wonderful cabin steward that is not only keeping our room clean but leaving chocolates on our bed every night.  We haven't seen that on the other cruise lines and it's a nice treat.  He doesn't have an assistant; he does everything himself.

The food has been hit and miss. Most of it good, two beef meals debatable.  The first night we had a steak that was very tough.  5 out of 6 of us had it and everyone said the same thing.  We went to the pub for fish and chips and the malt vinegar was so "watered down", we stopped using it. Very weak, I mean watery.  I will say the rest of the days and the food has been from good to excellent.  We have open seating but asked for the same waiter and table every night and have had wonderful service.

The first time on a cruise we heard this: Fire in stateroom 5066!   Our room is 6069!  We were docked in Sitka so no need to panic.  It was put out and hopefully everything is okay.  

I want to be honest about this cruise and we are really enjoying it.  I've seen so many changes since COVID on the other lines I've sailed since COVID and the changes on Cunard are much fewer!  

• The dress code has changed.  Before COVID men had to wear jackets in the dining room every night.  Two nights now are formal, and jackets are required, the rest of the cruise is smart attire.  Dress code is never enforced, and people wear everything to dinner, but most respect the code.
• Theatre performances are from 45 minutes to 60 minutes.  If there is a guest entertainer onboard, they don't sell their CD's or books at the exit of the theatre.
• There is no Cruise Director, but an Entertainment Director.  She introduces the shows from backstage.  After the performance, she comes on stage, thanks them, and tells us to have a wonderful night and cheerio!  No jokes, no chitter chatter.  You always get a seat in the theatre, unlike other lines that have fewer seats than passenger capacity.
• Blankets available on deck for glacier viewing, no charge.  They don't ask for your room number.
• Limited announcements.  You never hear "bingo in 5 minutes", "sale of t-shirts on the top deck" or "hairy chest contest about to begin".  One announcement at noon from the captain.  They don't have a "hairy chest contest". 
• They don't take pictures of you before you board, in the dining room when you are eating or just casually as you walk the decks.  They do portraits on some nights, but you are never approached to get one.  No hard selling!
• The smallest casino at sea with no smoking!
• Two tier library, always staffed.  You can take out books, get a newspaper synopsis of your country's news and a crossword puzzle or sudoku for you to complete every day.
• More activities and staff than most cruise lines and they aren't selling you anything.  Prizes are stickers and at the end you turn them in for quality prizes depending on how many stickers you've won.
• A beautiful ballroom you can see from two levels with professional dancers and dance lessons in the daytime.  If you aren't a dancer, you don't dance in the evening.  It's for those who are excellent dancers.  It's great to watch them if you aren't a dancer.  There are also gentlemen hosts for women travelling alone who want to dance.
• This cruise line doesn't have an app, but there is a website you can reach that gives you all the information you need.  On board dining times, including menus, on board account, voyage calendar, spa appointments, shore excursions, medical assistance, children's clubs, and the daily program.  You don't need the internet package to access this site.  The printed copy of the daily program is always in your room the night before, you don't need to request it.
• Good speed internet.  They don't have Starlink, but the download speed is 15.2 Mbps, upload speed 0.9 Mbps.  I bought a cheaper package that lets you access social media, email, and the internet.  If you wanted to stream it was another US$ 60.00.  However, there were areas where we didn't get internet and didn't get TV either, so the satellite wasn't in range.  There were lots of warnings about the satellite unreliability.
• There hasn't been a cooking demonstration, a kitchen tour, or the sale of cookbooks. 
• Free shuttle bus in Victoria to the Empress Hotel.  Princess charges US$15.00
• No art auctions
• In your room, a fridge that's very cold unlike the other lines that are just cool.
• A kettle, cups, tea bags, coffee, sugar, creamers, and cookies in your room.

• 

  I've never had this in my stateroom on any other cruise line!
  

  
  

  Today we arrive in Victoria at 1 PM and depart at 8:30 PM.  Tomorrow this fabulous cruise is over.  We really enjoyed it.  I will cruise Cunard again.

Day 8 - Glacier Bay

Margerie Glacier

Lamplugh Glacier

Glacier Bay National Park was proclaimed a national monument in 1925 and established as a national park in 1980.  It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991.  The park and preserve covers an area of 13,287 square kilometers.   

We entered Glacier Bay at 6 AM, not that we were up.  The National Park Rangers boarded our ship.  We sailed slowly right up the inlet to Margerie Glacier.  The weather was cloudy in the morning, but the sun came out mid-afternoon.  It was a beautiful site and a wonderful day.  We enjoyed our balcony and saw lots of otters close to our ship and whales in the distance.  I'm glad we packed our binoculars.

The evening was topped off with a fabulous performance of Hollywood Nights by the Royal Court Theatre Company.  The entertainment on this ship is the best I've ever seen on any ship!

Day 7 - Skagway

You can see the slide that halted cruising to this pier in 2022!

We arrived in Skagway at 6 AM, not that we were up to see it.  There are four ships in town today.  We are at the Broadway dock which is the closest to town.  It was cloudy but it didn't rain!  The weather was cool, and we loved it.  We had a wonderful walk into town.  Kathy did some shopping.  

Back on board for lunch, a rest, killer darts, and trivia.  A great afternoon.  

Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding for dinner and it was excellent.

One of best dinners yet.  Reminds me of when my mom had this dinner every Sunday!

The show was a girl group, "Heatwave".  They sang girl group songs from the 60's and 70's.  Wonderful harmony.  

After the performance we went to the pub to play "Musical Bingo".  You got a bingo card with songs from one time hit wonders.  They played the song and if you had it on your card you marked it off.  When you get a full card, you yell "party" and win.  They said they would give away prizes to people who danced when they played songs.  Well, I don't dance well.  They played "We don't have to take our clothes off" by Jerome Stewart.  I had on a sweater set, took off my cardigan and won walking sticks!  They are awesome!   The game shows are a lot of fun.

Another great day!

 

Day 6 - Juneau

Juneau is the capital of Alaska.  It's an unusual city as there are no roads out.  The only access is by water or air.  There is a ferry from Washington state that brings cars and trucks up.  One of the most visited places is Mendenhall Glacier.

We've been here many times and seen all the sites.  There are a lot of eagles and last year we saw bears on our way to Mendenhall in a field by the road.  

When we arrived at ten o'clock, it was raining hard.  We decided to enjoy the ship and stay on board.  It did stop raining about three o'clock.  We stayed until 8 PM, a nice long day.  There were six ships in port, so it was busy in town.

Rain never bothers me.  I bring great rain gear and love walking in the rain.  Ketchikan is in a rain forest.  When you see the Sahara Desert and the greenery of Alaska, you thank the rain for all the flowers, trees and grass.  The rain makes everything beautiful.  I only wish these clouds would head southeast to our province to help the forest fires!

We played Wipeout Trivia.  We didn't wipe out, but we didn't win.  Afternoon trivia was fun too.  We listened to Joel Bowerman in the Commodore Club (Deck 10, forward with a gorgeous view).  Dinner was one of the best.  We are in open dining and have the same waiter every night.  His services and personality are making our trip!  All the staff are great.

The Royal Court Theatre had a fabulous production of "Top Hat".  The singing and dancing were outstanding.  The show was 60 minutes!  Most other lines have performances between 30 and 45 minutes.  After this performance we went to the pub and heard a lovely duo singing country and other favorites.  We haven't seen an entertainer we haven't enjoyed.  There are so many diverse types of entertainment we are trying to get them all in.

Day 5 - Hubbard Glacier

 

Today we visited Hubbard Glacier.  It stradles the Canadian/US border and is one of the few glaciers advancing rather than retreating.  It gains an average of 80 feet a year.  Our weather was cloudy but reasonably warm and no rain.  When we left the glacier, we passed Silver Sea's Silver Muse.

The entertainment was Gary Lovini again with his violin and Claude Eric who did a wonderful tribute to Elvis.  Excellent again.  After the show we went to the pub and listened to Robin Rose from Australia play and sing at the piano.  He did a tribute to Tony Bennett who we heard passed away.  Such a wonderful person and entertainer.  

Another glorious day at sea.

Day 4 - Sitka

 

Sitka is one of my favorite places in Alaska.  It's not been spoiled by Diamonds International, Starbucks and McDonalds!   It's a unique city with a lot of Russian heritage.  It's a warm day and we have sunshine!

We docked about three miles away from town and they offer free buses to town.  This is where they dropped us off.  We had a nice walk through the town.  The stores have lots of authentic merchandise that is sourced locally.  The art shops are magnificent. 

We went back to the ship and played darts and trivia.  Lots of great activities on this cruise.  More than Princess, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity have every day.  

We docked beside the Westerdam and we are taller and 30 meters longer than the Holland America ship.  It was surprising to me as I thought the Westerdam was bigger.  

Dinner was very tasty and the service is superb.  After dinner we went to the production of "Palladium Nights", a wonderful performance by the singers and dancers of songs we all loved.  The voices are strong and the dancers are a pleasure to watch.  

After the show, it was Motown in the Queens Room.  Then we went up to the Commodore Club that is on deck 10 at the front of the ship with floor to ceiling windows.  We heard a talented pianist and saw some whales at sunset.  A great way to end the evening.

Day 3 - Ketchikan

When we arrived at 7 AM it was raining lightly.  The rain stopped at 11.  It was cloudy but cool and nice to walk around.

Last May on our first cruise after COVID we came to Alaska with friends.  Donna and Winston joined us on a private tour to George Lodge for a crab feast.  We all loved it.  When I told Kathy and Don, they wanted to go on it so we both arranged for this tour.  It didn't disappoint.  They pick you up at "the Rock" which is on the pier and drive you on a scenic 30 minute drive to the lodge.

We had a lovely salad with crackers and crab spread.  Then they brought the crab!  It just kept coming and it was fresh, hot and delicious!

They had a contest on the highest crab stack.  Our stack was high but the table of 5 from North Dakota had a 12" stack.

I bought a new sweatshirt:

We went for a nice walk to Creek Street.  The Celebrity Millenium is the only other ship in town, so it was quiet!  There was lots of noise coming from the Log Show!  

I thought this sign was interesting

Back on the ship we had a wonderful dinner and thoroughly enjoyed Claude Eric, the singer from Montreal who put on a wonderful show from Michael Bublé to Lou Rawls.

This is posting late; our internet was out for over 12 hours!  

Day 2 - Gorgeous day at sea

Our seas are calm but it's cloudy and we've had a little drizzle.  For us, it was a nice break from the heat we've had in Vancouver.  

More activities on Cunard than the other lines we've cruised.  A full day's schedule.  There were two Insights speakers this morning and another one this afternoon.  All different subjects and very knowledgable people.  

We went to trivia and then saw the feature artist, Philip Gray.  He showed us some of his travels to Antarctica and Mt. Everest where he painted.  He also did a wonderful painting demonstration.  

We attended "Killer Darts" in the English pub.  Cec did quite well but didn't win.  He shot a bulls eye and everyone cheered.  It was lots of fun.  We stayed for lunch and ordered beer and fish and chips.

Afternoon tea was lovely, and we were careful not to overindulge as we had a specialty dinner in the Seafood restaurant.

The Seafood house was very nice.  We had a table by the window and ordered a seafood dinner for two.  They bought it on a trolley!

It was served cold and it was excellent!   The plate in the top right was Don's dinner.  Both Don and Kathy had the halibut and it looked excellent too.  We all had a wonderful seafood risotto appetizer and baked Alaska for dessert.  

The show last night was Be My Guest.  We saw it last time on Cunard and it's well worth seeing again.  The singers and dancers were excellent.

The Internet isn't always good on ships.  I don't know what service they are using but the download speed is 15.2; upload 0.9.  I got the cheapest plan, and this is much better than Princess!

Another wonderful day at sea!  Next port, Ketchikan.

Day 1 Queen Elizabeth - 10 days Alaska

We had a 2:15 embarkation.  All the cruising we've done, that is the latest we've ever boarded.  The boarding pass said, "do not come earlier".  We got there at 1:45 and it was the smoothest check in ever!  We may have missed lunch, but it was worth it.  So well organized and the most we waited was at US customs with 3 people ahead of us.  Nexus really helped.

The ship does not feel crowded.  I know it's sold out but there is only a capacity of just over 2,000.   Our room is on the 6th floor, midship balcony.  Lovely room and a kettle, coffee, tea and a bottle of champagne in our fridge with two glasses.  Nice touch, Cunard.

We have open dining and walked right in.  Great waiter and a lovely atmosphere.  They have really relaxed the dress code on Cunard.  Jackets are only required for men two nights on the cruise.  The rest of the time they are not required.  

The evening show in the dining room was Gary Lovini, a British violinist.  That sounds a little sleepy, but believe me he sure wasn't.  He played Dancing Queen, Sweet Caroline and many other great numbers.  He ended his show with a tribute to Queen that lasted about 15 minutes.

We then went to the Queens Room to watch the ball room dancing.  Lots of great dancers and wonderful music.  Tomorrow, a wonderful day at sea.

Queens Room